Not even the morning's leaden skies and persistent, sullen rain could dampen Elizabeth Rodham's mood. Hope had been in short supply for the past three years, dwindling with each passing month as Elizabeth sank deeper into comparative poverty. Her acquaintances had deteriorated with her loss of position and status, her comforts appreciably lessened, and her chances for reversing the trend looked ever bleaker. But that morning found her on the road, riding comfortably alone in a coach hired especially for her, heading for a promising chance of future employment, and not even the necessity of pulling the shades on the windows to prevent being soaked could dim her newfound enthusiasm,

Elizabeth had spent nearly all of her adult life as a governess, working for two prosperous families in East Suffolk: the Forsythe's for five years and then the Huntington's for nearly ten. Colonel Huntington and his wife had been blessed with five children... three boys and two girls, and Elizabeth had spent the better part of a decade as an indispensable part of the family. But as often happens, with the last grown too old for a governess, she found herself altogether dispensable and was discharged, left unemployed, unmarried in her mid-thirties, and only in possession of the small competence that the Colonel's wife had allowed him to bestow.

She'd tried unsuccessfully for other positions, but as she feared, most prospective employers were looking for much younger women, more capable of being considered a companion as well as a governess for their children. Her hopes for marriage had also dwindled through the years. While a young woman, she'd been hampered by possessing unusual height, standing at an eye with most men and looking down on far too many. Too often she'd seen men take an interest in her, only to have their partiality fade when made aware of the jests and nudges sent in his direction. Now her age was implacably against her as well, and though she had maintained much of her good figure, the increasing lines about her face did nothing to hide the years.

However the specter of her remaining life as an old maid did not bother her nearly as much as the prospect of ever increasing poverty. The competence she had received from Colonel Huntington, combined with her own small savings, generated scarcely enough income to maintain her in the most modest of lodgings, with nary a full time servant and only an occasional cleaning woman to assist her.

Then came the most unexpected letter from Mr. Kenworthy, the gentleman having received a recommendation from the Colonel himself, advertising for a governess to deal with one particularly willful and unruly child. Colonel Huntington had obviously impressed upon the gentleman Elizabeth's success in dealing with his brood, particularly the younger boys. How the solicitation and recommendation had come about she could not fathom, but what mattered was that it was here, and a chance to reclaim some comfort and dignity.